Thursday, August 14, 2008

This cartoon isn't about hating MySpace, but I do, with a passion, so that's what I'm going to rant about.

I was talked into getting a MySpace page few years ago by a PR person who felt it was a good way to market comedy shows and books and such. She was right, people have had success with that, but I found that web site to be so badly designed, counter intuitive, and unfathomably annoying in all respects, that I gave it up within weeks. The thing operates like a video game with no rules or plot, designed by a drunken toddler.

A business partner of mine now monitors my MySpace page. It is the only element of the vast Bizarro empire that I don't look at myself, so don't write to me there unless you want to hear from my pal, Rey.

I know that people of all ages are into MySpace, but let's face it, it's mostly for kids and 20-somethings. It isn't meant for adults to understand, much the way gangsta rap isn't meant for suburban whites.

If I may be immodest for a moment (do I dare?), what I really like most about this cartoon is the dog's face on the left. I usually draw dogs more like the one on the right, but I decided to get all artsy-fartsy this time and try a different type. I'm very happy with the way the pug turned out.

One last note: I once knew a middle-aged man who was dating a girl in her early 20s. He found himself asking her why she hadn't put his picture on her MySpace page. If you find yourself in this situation, not having your picture on her MySpace page may not be your biggest problem.

20 comments:

I'm curious to see if my friends age out of Myspace/Facebook. Mostly they're in their mid to late 20's, and the trend seems to be away from MySpace, but Facebook's still going strong.

Let's just say it's beyond surprising to me to see baby pictures popping up more and more often on my Facebook friends' profiles; I figured that was something you gave up with children, like ever getting a good night's sleep, rare exceptions aside.

I feel like an ass for saying it, but you drew a very similar dog to the one on the Left on page 53 of Too Bizarro. Your style was totally different back then though. Plus, maybe you forgot. I am just an obsessed fan, so please don't take me too seriously.

uhhh....i think i may have mentioned this in another comment, but i added your blog to my facebook page and now there is a network dedicated to this blog on there. woopsies, if you hate facebook. but sweet if it brings any new people to your fabulous blog. as of a couple days ago i was the only member. all alone.

Don't get me wrong, kids, I don't mind other people using MySpace and Facebook, I just don't have the stomach for it. Facebook is much better designed and even I can figure it out. But all I do is go on once a month and accept all the friend requests. I just don't have time to do much else with it.

You're right, Jeremy, I have drawn similar dogs from time to time, thanks for being such an observant fan. It's fun to do something different than the "auto pilot" in my hand dictates.

online social networks are a plague... i actually couldn't stand facebook because it's too basic. but i'm a huge multi-tasker and i need visual stimulation at all times of the day, so myspace was my choice of the two. but it still sucks, even though i still visit my own page a couple times per week. of course, we all have our reasons to maintain our profiles on social networking sites, mine being that my brothers are strewn across the country and it's one of few ways we stay in contact and share our ever-changing lives. and there are some college buddies on there. otherwise, i hate myspace. another reason to hate myspace is because it is now owned by rupert murdock, the guy who also owns wall street, the journal, and faux-news (among a plethora of other companies.. that jerk).

I hate Myspace with a passion, too! It's driven me nuts forever. Constantly crashing, and most of the people on there aren't the ones you want to know anyway. Counterintuitive - horribly - and it's like a messy bulletin board piled with notes and garbage on top of each other, most of the info just as meaningless.